Reading Response 2: Where the Red Fern Grows



Billy had now had his pups Old Dan and Little Ann for a couple weeks, he had been training them non-stop.  His Grandpa helped him build a trap to catch a coon in. He used this coon hide to train his dogs to track and pick up on a coon trail and track them out in the woods. He tried to imitate typical raccoon behavior, and pull some of their smart tricks when leaving a sent behind to train his dogs. Now the time has come for their first real hunt. He made a promise to them before they even started hunting. He told them "You guys put one in a tree, and I'll do the rest." Well it just so happens that his dogs "tree" the coon in the biggest tree in the woods. Billy calls it, "The Big Oak." He wasn't going to cut down the tree, because of how big it was. But when he saw the look in his dogs eyes, he remembered the promise he made them and decided to try to cut it down. I admire the love that Billy has for his dogs. It actually makes me think of the kind of love that I have for my dogs.

The book never actually says how big the tree is, but I can picture the base of the tree being about this wide, in my mind.